OHIO MILITIA 

and 

The West Virginia Campaign 
1861 

With Supplemental Notes 
CARFJNGTON 



OHIO MILITIA 



AND THE 



WEST VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN 

1861 



ADDRESS OF GENERAL CARRINGTON 

To Army of West Virginia 
At Marietta, Ohio, Sept. 10, 1870 



\EW EDITIOX 



^ 



MOSTON. MASSA( HI- SETTS 

K. H. HLODCKTT .K: CO.. PRINTKKS 

30 liKOMMIII) StKKKT 
|()04 



*♦" "-^-^rM^l 



ERRATA. — Page 9, thirteenth line from bottom, should read 
" Noah H. Swayne." He became Justice of the U. S. Supreme 
Court, and his son, Colonel Wager Swayne, who lost a leg in the 
war, became as eminent at the law as his father was distinguished 
on the bench. Aaron F. Perry, who accompanied Mr. Swayne 
to Washington, afterwards removed to Cincinnati, was elected 
to Congress, and attained high distinction both as citizen and 
lawyer. 



OHIO MILITIA 

AND THE WEST VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN. 



Responsive to "request of the Society of the Army of West Virginia, that a full 
statement of the part borne by the Mibiia of Ohio in the rescue of West 
Virginia in iS^r, be furnished I)y Col. Henry H. Carrington, U. S. A., at the 
Reunion of the Society, at Marict'a, Ohio. Sept. 19, tSjf^.' 



Comrades of the Army of West X'irc.inia : 

It is well to save for some future historian the record of all facts 
which marked the outbreak ot the American Rebellion. There are 
times when noiseless work does much to prepare and ensure that 
more visible and emphatic action which fixes the destiny of a nation 
or race. Your society aims to secure and record all facts which gave 
to West Virginia its independence. The national record deals chiefly 
with the Federal call upon the States for troops and the conduct of 
those troops. The rescue of West \'irginia from the first grasp of 
invasion has less distinctive mention, because the troops which first 
entered the field were not originally on the Roll of United States 
\'olunteers, but were Militia of Ohio. They did indeed quite gen- 
erally re-enlist in the national service, and the government eventually 
recognized their early organization ; but there was a brief period of 
grave and determining value, in which their action was as significant 
as when the campaign of i8f)i matured and became a grand factor 
in the operations of the war. 

With all credit to those who have compiled the Ohio war record, 
it is not strictly true that the war burst upon (^hio without either 
warning or preparation ; nor that the excitement of the hour so con- 
fused her State officials that an excess of accepted troops eml)arrassed 
the real issue. The very organization of a force beyond the limits of 
the call rendered possible its ultimate movement into West Virginia 
before the United States Volunteers could be armed and equipped 
for active service. Neither was the pressure greater than in Indiana, of 
which its official historian writes: "The Governor, finding it impos- 
sible 10 restrain the tide of vohmteers within the narrow limits of the 
three months' call, tendered additional regiments. Companies came 
without orders, or rather in defiance of orders, in the hope that they 
could be received, or that a second call would be at once made. At 
that time communication with Wasiiington by telegraph had bet-n 
cut off." 



Neither Governor Dennison nor the Adjutant General of Ohio could, 
under the urgency of the first call, work up fully the enormous detail 
of labor immediately involved, and so promptly divide and classify it 
as to act upon a settled War Department System. Twenty-four hours 
was not time enough for a day's work. A volume of Regulations and 
Tactics had been published by that officer, under legislative sanction, 
but this assumed the ability of the General Government to furnish 
arms and equipments for any emergency, and assumed the use of 
blank forms to save penmanship. The office of Adjutant General, 
upon the peace establishment, had very limited executive authority, 
but his immediate action, approved by the Governor, was to order all 
the active militia companies to report for service. Hence it was that 
twenty companies, already organized, but recruited to full strength, 
were started for Washington within sixty hours after receipt of Presi- 
dent Lincoln's call. Simultaneously with this official appeal to the 
organized militia, there necessarily came to the Governor himself a 
demand for commissions and authority to raise companies, and even 
regiments, from all parts of the State. 

The prompt response of the militia and the offers of the people, 
as in Indiana, outnumbered the demand. It was not designed that 
full regiments should be accepted upon individual offers; but when 
the Adjutant General established Camp Taylor at Cleveland, and 
found that Toledo had placed in that camp ten full companies, under 
James B. Steedman, he accepted the organization as a regiment, and 
that action was endorsed by the Governor on the following day. It 
was deemed more important to secure immediate organization than 
to wait for a logical distribution of the force over the State at large. 
The necessity for some peremptory limit to the acceptance of com- 
panies compelled the earliest practicable sub-division of the work, 
and applications for assignment were soon dealt with upon a basis 
absolutely impossible during the first alarm, when men and com- 
panies boarded trains without authority, and understood a telegram, 
" Await instructions" to mean "Come along soon." 

The historian of " Ohio in the War," in the main just, overlooked 
the fact that when, in May, 1861, the Adjutant General was appointed 
to a Colonelcy in the Regular Army, he was directed, at the request 
of the State authorities and with the approval of the War Department, 
to still act as Adjutant General until July i, 1861, and until General 
C. P. Buckingham, his nominated assistant and ultimate successor, 
could organize the State Commissary Department upon a practical 
basis. By that time twenty-six regiments had been organized. His 
active assistant was Captain Calvin Goddard, afterward Colonel, and 
a brilliant member of the staff of General Rosecrans. Captain L. S. 
Sullivant, Captain Thomas Donaldson and Mr. H. T. Miller rendered 
efficient service in recording assignments and other matters of detail. 
On the 27th of April, the Secretary of War telegraphed to the 
Adjutant General : " I would tender to you, as I have already to His 



Excellency, the Governor of Ohio, the thanks of this Deijariment for 
the promptness and energy with which you have met the call of the 
Government. I regret that, according to the plans adopted and 
under which this Department is acting, we can only accept for the 
present the quota first called for from Ohio. You will do well, 
however, in organizing and drilling other regiments, so as to be pre- 
pared to meet any emergency that may arise." 

The policy which led the Adjutant General to summon the organ- 
ized militia to arms was vindicated when the two regiments started 
for Washington ; but, more emphatically, when it enabled him to 
place a six-gun battery of that militia on the Ohio River more than a 
month before a single regiment of Ohio or Indiana Volunteers had 
been mustered into the L nited States service. That policy was not 
from the inspiration of the crisis alone. The tiring upon Sumter did 
not begin the war. War already existed, and it is only just to the 
memory of the dead, to place on record, in this very connection, 
some facts which placed Ohio in a position to act at once when open 
violence began the struggle for national life. 

The inaugural message of Governor Dennison stated the condi- 
tion of the State Militia, and urged that the Report and earnest 
recommendations of the Adjutant General receive careful attention. 
That officer had, under legislative authority, prepared plans and 
caused the erection of a State Arsenal from proceeds of sales of old 
State property ; but the Militia proper had received no pecuniary a d 
from the State. Governor Wise of Virginia took occasion to ridicule 
the poor exhibit of Ohio Militia, which Governor Dennison's message 
presented, and with keen irony deprecated the possible " invasion of 
Virginia by the Ohio Army of iwch'c hundred men in uniform^ And 
yet both Steedman and Barnett were prominent officers of that Militia, 
and their antecedent preparation was vindicated by their subsequent 
career, when with less than 1,200 Ohio Militia they marched from 
Parkersburg to (irafton. 

The Report of the Adjutant General for 1S58-9 had submitted 
for the action of the Legislature a statement of the support which 
other States rendered to their Militia, and had given the organized 
companies as one hundred and fifty, with a nominal strength of four 
thousand men. The result of personal visits to New York and Mas- 
sachusetts, during their Division, Brigade and Regimental maneuvers, 
had also been fully stated, and when Governor Dennison entered 
'-jion office, he heartily seconded the efforts which had been made by 
his predecessor to place the State Militia ujion a permanent basis. 
A brief history of its organization will show that the contingency 
which came so suddenly in 186 1 had not been wholly unanticipated. 

Governor Chase began a systematic organization in 1S57, by 
appointing a full staff, requiring them to uniform : and obtained for 
his own use the proper equipage. Arms were not issued until com- 
panies uniformed strictly in accordance with State regulations, and 



6 

officers of every rank throughout the State were required to furnish 
themselves with a complete service outfit, and full horse-equipments 
for all who were mounted. 

An incident occurred during the summer of 1857, which stimu- 
lated the zeal of Governor Chase in this direction. In connection 
with the Green County case, under the Fugitive Slave law, a conflict 
of jurisdiction had arisen between the Federal and State authorities. 
He sent the Judge Advocate General, afterwards Adjutant Gen- 
eral, to Washington, to present the issue to President Buchanan and 
Secretary Cass, and to arrange for a personal interview with himself. 
Governor Chase affirmed that " he would vindicate the State author- 
ities in the exercise of legitimate jurisdiction, once acquired, if it took 
every man in the State to doit; while equally respecting Federal 
process where it rightfully acquired first jurisdiction." To the 
remark of Mr. Cass, " Why, this may involve civil war," the answer was, 
" No ; but if the South forces these petty demands for fugitives uJDon us 
much longer, gaining nothing, but mortifying self respect and bring- 
ing reproach upon all free institutions, they will force a war of sec- 
tions, or, worse yet, bring about an eventual war of races among 
themselves." The cases were settled by the compromise of general 
dismissal of the personal suits : but Governor Chase at once decided to 
foster the Militia to the extent of his influence and authority. 

On the 19th of January, 1858, he presided at a State Convention 
of nearly two hundred officers who had complied with orders to fully 
uniform, and that body embraced such names as *Lyttle, *Steedman, 
*Bates, *Beatty, *Jones, King, Parrott, Barnett, McMillen, *Frizel], 
*'Tyler, and many others who, upon the first call to arms, were found 
prompt and ready. Those indicated * were General officers of the 
Militia, and attained the same rank during the war. C C. Walcott 
and Theodore Jones, successively captains of the Columbus Videttes, 
a company which marched with the first two regiments, also became 
distinguished General officers. On the 3d of July, 1858, Governor 
Chase reviewed the State Militia at Dayton, Ohio, where seven 
brigades were represented by two or more companies each, and 
where thorough inspection and contest for a silver medal took place. 
Every company there present responded to the call of the Adjutant Gen- 
eral in 1S61. 

Another fact of previously unwritten history will illustrate the 
idea of Governor Chase in his earnest purpose to encourage the 
Militia, and it is kindred in element to that which transpired in 1857, 
when, upon the fine and imprisonment of Langston and others at 
Cleveland, under the Fugitive Slave law, the question of their right- 
ful imprisonment was raised upon the issue of a writ of habeas corpus 
by the State Supreme Court, and he ordered the Militia companies at 
Columbus to be silently placed under arms for the purpose of sustain- 
ing such action as the Court might make in the premises. The 
parlies were rcinandcd by the Court to the custody of the United 



States Marshal, and the Militia were relieved from duty. Mr. 
Wolcott, the attorney who argued the case for the State, subsequently 
became the judge Advocate General of Governor Dennison, emi- 
nent for valuable service to the State early in the war, and became 
Assistant Secretary of War. 

These facts furnish a key to that persistent endorsement of the 
Militia on every proper occasion, which sometimes drew forth sneers, 
as if all were mere fuss and show, when in fact his purpose was to 
prepare a fit body of men for possible duty in behalf of the State 
or Nation. His convictions did not diminish when transferred to 
the United States Senate. In a letter to the Adjutant General of 
Ohio, dated February yth, 1861, he wrote : " Our most sober thinkers 
and those best informed, as well as conservative men from the South, 
predict war. Our Militia should be otlicered by the wisest and best 
men. How soon they may be needed no man can tell." Secretary 
Cass, in a subsequent letter to the same officer, wrote : "We have 
indeed fallen upon evil times, when those who should preserve seem 
bent upon destroying the country." (See Note H., page 15.) 

It was, therefore, not without some reflection, that before the 
attack upon Fort Sumter, the Adjutant General felt impelled to assert 
in a public address, deemed wild by some, that ''a war was impending 
which would outlast a presidential term, would cost hundreds of 
thousands of lives and thousands of millions of money."* By many 
that appeal was classed with the demand of General W. T. Sherman, 
that two hundred thousand men should be placed in Kentucky. It 
is, however, a fact that such convictions had their influence, when 
Ohio, with her Militia organization, was called to take part in real 
war. 

The work so well begun by Governor Chase was followed up by 
Governor Dennison with animation and hopefulness. On the loth of 
September, i860, a formal parade took place at Cleveland, on the 
occasion of the Perry Monument celebration, in which Harnett's full 
battery, the first organized in any State of the I'nion, as a Light 
Battery^ not excepting that of Rhode Island, gave evidence of that 
discipline which it subsequently displayed. One section, under com- 
mand of Captain David L. Wood ((^)uartermaster General of Ohio 
under Governor Chase, and until May, 1861, under Governor Denni- 
son), had been specially complimented by General Scott, both at 
Niagara Falls and Auburn, several years before. 

With this introductory statement, it is not to be denied that ihe 
want of legislative appreciation and suj:)j")ort was fast wearing out the 
patience of the Militia just when the summons came for action, and 
when the previous neglect of the State to foster its Militia was fully 
exposed. The history of regiments regularly mustered into the 

*NoTE. — ''The Crisi.s, the Peril and the Duty." Fii.st delivered at Columbus, 
April II, 1S61, and again on the 17th, upon the written request of Senators 
Garfield, Cox and fifteen other senators. 



8 

United Stales service is fully unfolded in public records. The regi>- 
ments of Ohio militia which made a surplus oxer the first call lor 
troops, were put in the (ield under every embarassment which could 
attend a condition of afifairs, when even blank Rolls were poorly 
supplied, when armed men were wanted at once to protect the Ohio 
border, and when mere presence at the front was of more value than 
prolonged instruction in camp. 

Formal shape had been given to the organization of the United 
States three months troops, under a provision of the State Militia 
laws which authorized the Governor to fill vacancies in the rank of 
Brigadier General, until an election could be ordered. Several of the 
Brigade Districts had but one company. The old Act of Congress 
provided that when the Militia were called into the service of the 
United States, they should be commanded by officers of that Militia. 
Senators Cox and Schleich (the latter Captain of an excellent Militia 
company at Lancaster, Ohio), were appointed Brigadier Generals of 
Militia by the Governor. General J. H. Bates was already in com- 
mission at Cincinnati. Prompt legislation left the general command 
to some citizen of Ohio, at large, and General McClellan was en- 
trusted with that command, and was also commissioned as Major 
General in the Regular Army. Camp Dennison was established as 
the rendezvous for the United States A'olunteers, and all other troops 
were concentrated at Cleveland, Columbus, Zanesville, Lancaster and 
Athens. 

The State accepted the surplus regiments for State defense, and the 
work of clothing and equipment began, with absolutely no assurance 
that the General Government could render such timely aid as would 
make them effective troops for the immediate emergency. Hurried con- 
tracts for board took the place of rations proper, and the difficulties 
were the greater in proportion as the capacity of Camp Dennison made 
its demands imperative, and it seemed as if it would take months to 
grade, arrange, and supply water there. 

The Federal authorities lacked system, under the great pressure, 
hardly less than did those of the State ; and State authority had to 
bear much of the responsibility for discomfort at the Federal camp. 
Twice the Adjutant General (once with Governor Dennison) went to 
that post to influence to greater haste. It was in this emergency that 
a double question forced itself forward for solution, ist. How can 
the State troops be armed ? 2d. How can the State troops be best 
employed ? The border counties of Ohio were nervous and anxious. 
The people were willing to do their part, but felt the need of organ- 
ized support and wanted artillery. It was useless to send guns with- 
out ammunition and men accustomed to their use. Colonel Barnett 
had for more than a year previously reported his battery as fit for 
real service, and it had been fostered as the pride of the Ohio Militia 
system. With the despatch of twenty companies to the East, which 
embraced some of the best Militia companies of Cincinnati, Dayton, 



Springfield, Cleveland and Columbus, there was no suitable infantry 
force to send to the border. All companies proper were being 
merged in the new organizations, Federal and State. 

On Saturday, the 20th of April, the following telegram was sent: 

("oi.i'MiiUS, Ohio, April 20th, iSbi. 
Colonel James IJARNErr, Cleveland, Ohio. 

Report your six pieces, caissons, and full battery, including the Geneva Com 
pany, at ColumbUs, torihwith — Monday, if possible. You can hire horses for the 
guns here, or at your point of service. Bring harness and everything else. Twenty 
men to each gun. \'ou retain Colonels' rank. 

}iy order, 

H. V,. Carrington, 

Adjutant General. 

Early on Sunday morning, April 21st, Mr. John Hall, an elder of 
the Second Presbyterian church, and director of Ambos tl^: Co.'s 
foundry, was informed that cannon balls were needed. Two hundred 
round shot were made before midnight, powder was expressed from 
Springfield, tiannel was purchased, and on Monday evening, when 
Barnett reached the depot he was supplied with ammunition, sealed 
orders, and sent forward to the border. A committee of citizens 
from Marietta came from Loveland on the cars, for cannon, and 
admired what they supposed to be an United States battery. They 
were easily persuaded to accompany the train, and the guns were in 
position at Marietta, Ohio, opposite Parkersburg, West \'irginia, 
Tuesday evening, April 23d, little more than a week after the fall of 
Fort Sumner. 

The organization of all the regiments was hurried. Besides 
Camp Jackson, just north of Columbus, Camp Chase was established 
four miles westward, for the formation of four additional regiments, 
the 23d, 24th. 25th and 26th. It seemed as if arms could not be pro- 
cured even for the regular volunteers, and this was eventually done 
through the personal efforts of the Governor, Colonel Wolcott and 
others, as fully set forth in " Ohio in the War." 

A discussion as to whether the first campaign should be aggres- 
sive or defensive was constantly held. Prominent citizens, Noah H. 
Snaggs and Aaron F. Perry, as is well known, volunteered to make 
their way to Washington while direct communication was cut off, to 
impress upon the Government the necessity for its i)rompt action ; 
but it was not until May 24th that the Federal authorities and General 
McClellan were brought to a full accord and appreciation of the 
necessity for initiating active movements. 

The Adjutant General had previously visited General Wool at 
Troy, and at once addressed him a letter setting forth the condition 
and movement of Harnett's battery, the want of arms for the State 
regiments, and his theory of the crisis. The following is an extract : 

•'It will be the policy of the Governor of Virginia to occupv the line of tht 
Ohio river and make the free States the theatre of war. This will seal that rivei 
us a channel of Federal transportation, expose the rich counties of southern Ohio 



10 

to easy attack, furnish ample supplies for rebel troops and threatens all central 
lines of communication, East and West. The mountain ranges of western Virginia, 
only traversable through gaps, and easily defended, will give the enemy an 
advanced, if not an impregnable base; while all offensive operations will be at the 
expense of the free States adjoining, northward. Behind this mountain range, 
the interior railrt)ad lines afford peculiar facilities for rapid reinforcement of each 
assailed position. The rebel right will then menace Maryland and Pennsylvania, 
while the left will absolutely control Kentucky and Tennessee. With Maryland so 
uncertain, this movement will command the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, so that 
a comparatively small force can successively attack five hundred miles of border 
line. 

"By every principle of strategy the execution of some plan similar to this, must 
be the policy of the open rebellion. Whatever may be the effect of a movement 
upon Washington and the blockade of the Mississippi, it is vital to their success 
that Ohio be paralyzed, that Kentuckv be secured and that the West and North- 
west be cut off from their intimate relations with the East. West Virginia is an 
entering wedge to be held promptly and offensively by the North, since thereby 
Federal troops will threaten the left flank of all movements out of Richmond, and 
embarrass or counteract all rebel operations behind the mountain ranges as far as 
Kentucky and Tennessee." 

An extract from General Wool's reply is worthy of record : 

Troy, 4th June, 1861. 
My dear General: 

I tender you many thanks for your several communications and especially for 
vour last, the 9*.h of May. I am made happy to know that Ohio approves of my 
conduct in relation to our once prosperous and happy country. In the recent 
appeal to save the capital from falling into the possession of the rebels, I did what 
I could to arm Ohio. ... 

Most tiuly your friend, 
Gen. H. B. Carrington, John E. Wool. 

Adjutant Gefteral of Ohio. 

Notwithstanding the opinion above expressed was shared by 
Governor Dennison, Messrs. Garfield and others, it was not certain 
that the rebellion would begin a general offensive war ; and the tem- 
porary danger of the capital so embarrassed the government as to 
crowd aside, for a time, less immediate issues. Governor Dennison 
believed and insisted that the thirteen regiments called for by the 
President would be, as really transpired, so wholly subject to Federal 
authority as to be of little practical avail for State defense, and in 
the necessity of putting the State regiments in condition for that 
purpose. 

The crisis in West Virginia was indicated by a telegram to 
Governor Dennison from Mr. Carlisle, then at Wheeling, of May 
20th, stating that rebels had occupied Grafton, and would break up 
the convention summoned for the second Monday thereafter unless 
troops were furnished. It was at this juncture that the arms were 
received from General Wool. Powder had to be purchased and car- 
tridges fabricated. A lathe was purchased for rifling the bronze guns 
of the State, and James projectiles were ordered from Rhode Island. 
At this work (Quartermaster General Wood was in his element, and 
a sufficient supply of ammunition was provided for an issue of 100 



11 

rounds to the whcle force whicli had been rendezvoused at Cleveland. 
Columbus, /anesville and Lancaster. 

All questions as to the command of the Militia were solved after 
General McClellan's appointment as Major General, by an order 
placing the force under his command, and instructing the Adjutant 
General to visit that officer and to act under his orders in the dispo- 
sition of these troops. At this time, while (Governor Dennison was 
on a visit to Indianapolis for consultation with Governors Morton 
and Yates, General McClelhm telegraphed the Adjutant General, 
" Mount liarnett's battery immediately." A despatch to Colonel 
Barnett to ''Buy horses " was promptly followed by the action of 
Douglas Putnam. Esc]., and other citizens of Marietta, who borrowed 
the money and furnished the horses. That night the Adjutant (Gen- 
eral returned to Cincinnati and received instructions to place one 
regiment at Belair, one at Marietta, and support them as efficiently 
as practicable by such disposition of the other regiments as he 
deemed best. 

The following orders were issued by telegram at way stations on 
return to Columbus : 

Fourteenth Regiment. Colonel Steedman i at /anesville) move at 
once by Muskingum river to Marietta to support Barnett's Battery, 
already there, and await orders. Obey all orders from General 
McClellan. 

Seventeenth Regiment. Colonel Connell (at Lancaster) move by 
rail to Zanesville, to support Steedman, ordered to Marietta. Trans- 
portation will be furnished. 

Fifteenth Regiment. Colonel Andrews (at Zanesville) move by rail 
to Belair and await orders. 

Sixteenth Regiment. Colonel Irvine (at Columbus) move by rail to 
Zanesville to support Andrews, ordered to Belair. 

Nineteenth Regiment. Colonel Beatly, and Tiventy-First Regiment, 
Colonel Norton (at Cleveland i move to Columbus forthwith for 
further orders and immediate service. 

Senior olVicer of the twentieth Regiment. Complete your organi- 
zation at once. 

To all camp commanders. Obey pron)j)ily all orders of Major 
General McClellan. The Governor puts him in command of the 
State troops. 

Within si.x hours the combined movement was begun, telegrams 
having been sent to the proper steamboat and railroad authorities to 
honor all demands for transpoita ion under the orders issued. 

These orders bore date May 2(){h, 1861. On the 27th the Con- 
federate forces reached Clarksburg, and at once moved down the line 
of the B. \ O. railroad, destroying bridges. 

The Wheeling con\ention was to meet on Monday, June 3d, 
'IMie 14th regiment received its orders on their date, May 26th, 



12 

reached Marietta the afternoon following, and at once occupied the 
heights back of Parkersburg. The delay of twelve hours would have 
found the enemy in that position. Lieutenant Colonel Sturgess' 
section of Barnett's battery had hardly fitted harness to their horses 
when ordered across the river- by General McClellan, joining Steed- 
man on the 28th. The 14th, acting under the personal supervision of 
Colonel Steedman, restored a bridge of 65 feet span and 45 feet in 
height, and with Sturgess reached Grafton on the 29th, just at the 
same time that Colonel Kelley of the ist West Virginia and Colonel 
Andrews of the 15th Ohio arrived by the Belair route. The i6th 
Ohio soon followed, while two companies of the 19th relieved them 
on guard duty at Belair. The i8th regiment, Colonel Stanley, was 
retained at Athens to guard B. & O. railroad, while the 21st, Colonel 
Norton, was despatched to Gallipolis to watch the river border, and 
remained there until a movement was made up the Kanawha Valley. 
Barnett's remaining sections proceeded to Grafton. Grafton was 
thus occupied, and both forks of the B. c^^ O. railroad were perma- 
nently secured to Federal control. 

On the 29th of May the 9th Indiana, Colonel R. H. Milroy, left 
Indianapolis, Ind., and reached Grafton June ist, where Brigadier 
General Thomas H. Morris, commanding Indiana three months' 
U. S. Volunteers, had established his headquarters. On May 30th, 
the 7th Indiana, Colonel E. Dumont, and the 6th Indiana, Colonel 
Thos. T. Crittenden, left Indianapolis, reaching Webster, West Vir- 
ginia, June 2d. These regiments, with the 14th and 15th Ohio and 
Kelley's ist West Virginia, fought the action at Phillipi at daybreak, 
June 3d, the plunging fire of Barnett's guns giving Colonel Potter- 
field the first intimation that a superior force commanded his camp. 

The militia of Ohio had been thus hurried off, and none too soon ; 
but the inferior clothing that had been sent from Philadelphia, of the 
same kind as that first furnished the Pennsylvania troops, was almost 
worthless, and there had not been time for the State authorities to 
buy material and manufacture elsewhere. The United States had no 
supplies, even for its volunteers. It seemed as if the troops were 
simply transferred to the field, there to be useless for want of common 
necessaries in the way of outfit. Governor Dennison at once instructed 
the Adjutant General to visit every regiment and detachment, every 
bridge guard and picket of the Ohio regiments, and take such action 
as the necessity required. The 15th regiment had so nearly worn out 
their clothing and their shoes that they could not appear decently, 
and were assured that " they should not be moved from camp until 
fully refitted." Col. W. T. Coggshall, Aid and Military Secretary to 
Gov. Dennison, and Captain L. S. Sullivant, Aid to the Adjutant 
General, afterward Major of the 113th Ohio, accompanied that officer 
in this tour of inspection, and in thirty hours from receipt of telegram 
as to the situation, Governor Dennison placed new clothing, by a 
special train, in the camp of the regiment. 



13 

The battle of Phillipi had already been fought. Col. Kelly was 
lying at the Grafton hotel sufTering from his wounds. The head- 
quarters of Gen. Morris were at the same place. The nth Indiana, 
Col. Lew Wallace, passed east from Indiana for Cumberland at mid- 
night of the 9th, and on the loth the Adjutant General proceeded to 
Phillipi where Barnett and Steedman, as well as Milroy's and 
Dumont's Indiana regiments were encamped. 

During the inspection of the Ohio troops at that post, couriers 
arrived from Huttonville, with foaming and wearied horses, asking 
for aid. They reported the rebel force at less than six hundred men, 
poorly organized, with arms of miscellaneous pattern, two iron cannon, 
with little powder, but levying contributions upon the people. Col. 
Dumont was commanding at Phillipi, but was confined to his bed in 
the court house. With his sanction, however, a board of officers was 
convened and the testimony of the fugitives was reduced to writing 
by Col. Coggshall. A rigid examination led to the following action 
of the board of officers, and after a ride of twenty-five miles the same 
was submitted to Gen. Morris at Grafton about midnight. 

Phillipi, \V. Va., June 11, 1861. 
The undersigned recommend immediate measures for the occupation of 
lluttonsville, to control all movements in Pigent's \'alley, and cut off sui^plies to 
troops of the enemy that may be stationed between Huttonsville, Beverly and 
Staunton. 

H. 1'.. Carrington, Brig. Gen., AJjt. Gen. Ohio. 
Tas. H, Stekdman, Col. Com. 14th Ohio Rei^. 
R. H. MiLROY, (;/// /;/</. AV;^ 
Jamks HaRNKTT. ist Artilliry. 

The plan, as digested, was that one section of the batlerv and 
twelve hundred infantry well supplied with ammunition but no change 
of clothing and only such transportation as could be impressed on the 
road, should be pushed forward to seize the pass : the infantry to 
move in two separate but supporting columns, and strike Huttons- 
ville at early dawn. Gen. Morris advised delay for transportation 
and instructions ; and as yet having no report of the result of Col. 
Wallace's movement toward Cumberland, no further action was taken. 
The Adjutant General took an engine for Parkersburg and Cincinnati, 
reporting the state of affairs to Gen. McClellan. His opinion was 
that the movement was well devised ; but, before furtlur steps could hi 
taken an advance toward the Kanawha became necessary, and the 
enemy was reinforced at Huttonsville. The troops, however, remained 
at Phillipi for several weeks. Whether the character of the succeed- 
ing campaign would have been materially changed and the actions of 
Laurel Hill, Rich Mountain and Carnifax Ferry have been avoided, 
or modified, by the early occupation of Huttonsville Pass, cannot now 
be determined. The facts are given, so that the readiness of the 
Ohio Militia to meet their early part in that three months of service, 
may have a record with that which honors the volunteers who had 
been formally mustered into the U. S. service. 



14 

It is for others to bear witness to the services of those regiments 
which had been so mustered. 

This much of the history of the Ohio Militia is fairly responsive 
to the request which calls its forth ; and so much as savors of personal 
reminiscence expresses but the ofticial action of the officer who 
labored for four years to prepare that militia lor practical service, and 
was at last called upon to give it shape for the field, under circum- 
stances of peril, haste and responsibility which no human sagacity 
could have foreseen, and which no human spirit could realize with 
undisturbed composure. 

The operations of the spring of 1861 only introduced the struggle. 
The Society of the Army of West Virginia now represents fifty-seven 
Ohio Infantry regiments, besides Cavalry, Artillery and fourteen regi- 
ments of its National Guard, as well as twenty-one regiments from 
West Virginia and eight from Indiana. Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ken- 
tucky, New York and Michigan troops are comrades also. 

It is not the part of patriotism to ignore past sacrifice and com- 
panionship, because the conflict was between brethren ; but rather to 
honor all true valor, and in devotion to the restored Republic, to 
labor and pray that peace, fraternity, and excellence in the pursuits 
of a wholesome, genuine peace shall crown the people with prosperity 
and the Nation with a perpetual life. 



15 

Author's Note I. Volume i. Scries III., War Uecord?, gives quite fully the 
telegrams that passed between (iovernor Dennison and his Adjutant deneial. and 
the War Department, showing the readiness of Ohio to increase its cjuota promptly 
to 50,000 men, and that (leneral Wool's prompt action, both as to arms ind ammu- 
nition, gave Ohio the vantage ground of immediate ability to meet the fullest 
possible call. 

A reprint of the foregoing Address explains much that in the hunv of the early 
war period was not appreciated nor understood by superficial observers who 
exacted of a State military organization a perfect system of military conduct, in the 
very directions where even the War Department was e(|ually confused and over- 
worked. The records explain all. 

It is but justice to add that the iSth U. S. Infantry was practically an Ohio Reg- 
iment, as from the 4,773 men enlisted in its ranks during the Civil War, 3,100 were 
Americans by birth, and of these, 2,049 were citizens of ( )hio. Its Colonel had the 
appointment of its 2nd Lieutenants, under the Act increasing the Regular Army. 
Among the young men induced to enlist and take a Lance Sergeantcy, with view- 
to promotion, Gilbert S. Carpenter, of Western Reserve College, William H. Bis- 
bee, of Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, Ilenrv B. Freeman, of Mount 
Vernon, Ohio, are on the Army List of Brigadier Cenerals retired ; Lieut. John V. 
Hitchcock, of Western Reserve College, and son of its President, was killed at 
.Stone River. Frederick 11. Brown, of Toledo, Ohio, afterwards Quartermaster of 
the iSth, then Captain, was killed in the Fetterman .Massacre, Dec. 21, 1S66. 
Lieut. Thaddeus P. Kirtland is on the Army List as Major, retired, Henry C. 
Litchfield, late Major, deceased, belonged to the Chicago Zouaves. Lieut. Fred- 
erick 11. Phisterer became Adjutant of the Regiment, then Captain, but resigned, 
and has been for many years indentificd with the Adjutant Generals' Office of 
New York, antl a son is now Captain in the Regular Coast Artillery. 

Note II. Upon receipt of Letter of Senator Chase, noted on Page 7, the Adju- 
tant General obtained a list of all West Point graduates then living in Ohio, 
including McClellan, Rosecrans, Bates, Sill and Hildebrand, and their services 
were called into requisition upon receipt of the President's Call. At midnght 
Governor Dennison accompanied the Adjutant General to the residences of 
officers of the Columbus Militia Coni|)anies, and at 10 A. M. in the morning every 
company was reported as fillinc its quota for immediate service. Judge .\dvocate 
Stanley Matthews, of General Lytle's Militia Division, accepted position as Major 
in one of the new regiments. H. B. C. 

Hyde Park, Mass., April 19, 1904. 



The Ohio Militia of the Reserve. 

Supplemental to Col. H. B. Carrinqton's Address to the Society of the Army of West Virqmia. 
delivered at Marietta in 1879. entitled ' The Ohio Militia in the West Virginia Campaign. 1861." 



The sponiaucoiis uprisioijj of the people of Ohio, upon receipt «if the 
President's cull for 75,000 meu, with an iissif^uecl (luola of only thirteen 
regiments to that Slate, «liil not accord -with its estimate of the rightful 
demand upon its military resources, in view of the fact that Ohio, by 
location, must bear the chief burden of conflict at the West, in the flrst 
instance. 

A plan was therefore devised by which to meet all possible continj^en- 
cies, in accord with the plan submitted to Geneial Wool and which had its 
fruition in the First Western Virginia Campaign. 

The plan had its expression as follows : 

From the Ohio State Journal, May 7, 1S61. 
OHIO MILITIA OF TIIK RKSERVK, lf<61. 

Wc call attention to General Order No. 17, anil hope that evc/y pai)cr in the St^ite 
will r,opy It without expense to the State. 

General Canington drafted a bill which hi'.s become a law, urRinj? a "Militia of 
the Reserve." Involving no exi)ensc and no interference with the peaceful pursuits of 
the pcoi)le, it is admirably calculated to supply the material for a vast army, when the 
same shall be needed. Ilaviuj^c l)rougiit nearly twenty live thousand men under ditwl- 
l)line, since receipt of the rresidenl's proclamation, General Carrington is now prepar- 
ing; a .system which will render any future rcqulbitlons susceptible to an immediate 
response. 

The system is based upon the Prussian, with such modillcations as have been sug- 
gested by the new Rille Corps of England. 

General Head Quarters, Adjt. (Ienl's Office, 
Columbus, O., May 0, 1801. 
General Orders, \ 
No. 17. / 

The twenty days' limit for tlie dispersion of rebels now in arms 
aixainst the TnUed States has expired. Whether the strujjf^le for vin- 
dication of the imix'rilled I'nion shall bf l)rief or i>rotraete(l, the 
result is certain. The destinies of all nations are interwoven with 
that of America, and the issue is made up. Slie will meet the crisis 
linnly and fullill her part. The more decided lu'r action, the sooner 
will peace succeed war and loyalty supplant treason. 

To i,Mve force and systi'in to' our action, the followiui? General 
Order is promulgated. 

1. The Militia is divided into the "Active Army of Operation" 
ami the Militia of the Keservt- The nine regiments now encamped 



18 

(additional to the thirteen mustered into the United States service) and 
such further regiments as the General Assembly shall authorize, will 
be mustered into the State Service, and placed under strict discipline 
for immediate duty. 

Lieut. Col. Buckingham, 1st Asst. Adjt. Gen., is detailed from this 
department for that service. 

II. The enrolled militia, between the ages of eighteen and 
forty-live, exceeds 300,000 men. This force is divided into the 1st, 2d, 
and 3d lleserve Corps. 

. The able-bodied force, of other ages, retired from service, but fully 
competent to 'meet any demand that the exigencies of the Union 
may require, exceeds 200,000 men, and will constitute the 4th and 5th 
lleserve Corps. 

The 1st Reserve Corps will be organized forthwith, and be sub- 
ject to immediate transfer into the "Active Army of Operation." 
Applications, however, for the organization of the Militia of lleserve 
will not be limited to this quota ; but the companies composing it will 
receive the post of honor and the first assignment to active duty, in 
case the country requires their services. The only exception will be in 
favor of companies now under drill, which failed to receive an assign- 
ment into the twenty-two regiments now in camp. 

III. The militia of the Reserve will be organized as follows : 1st. 
Competent military men, or responsible citizens, will apply to this 
department for an order to raise a company, not exceeding 100 able- 
bodied men. 2d. A form of enlistment will be mailed, if the applica- 
tion be approved. 3d. The roll will be returned to the office, the 
election will be ordered, and the officers will be commissioned. 4th. 
The roll must embrace citizens of the same township, so that they can 
readily associate themselves and promptly respond to any order from 
(General Head Quarters. 5th. Whenever a company is transferred in- 
to the "Active Army of Operation " new commissions will issue, giving 
due precedence to the grade of the prior commissions so that the 
earliest commissions in the "Militia of the Reserve" will confer 
superior rank in the transferred corps. 

IV. This organization is designed to leave all domestic and eco- 
nomic machinery of society in full play, until the transfer becomes a 
necessity. Members of the Militia of the Reserve will therefore de- 
vote due attention to their ordinary concerns, and do what they may to 
prevent idleness, and assure a full crop of all the products of the farm. 
Any other course will make the struggle doubly burdensome, notwith- 
standing the fact that Ohio has already in store provisions for a year 
in advance. 

V. The following is the proportion of companies to each County 
upon such quota : Adams, 8; Allen, 8; Ashland, 10; Ashtabula, 13; 
Athens, 10; Auglaise, 7; Belmont, 15; Brown, 13; Butler, 15; Carroll, 
7; Cliampaign, 10; Clark, 11 ; Clermont, 14; Coschocton, 11; Crawford, 
10; Cuyahoga, 30; Darke, 12; Defiance, 5 ; Delaware, 10; Erie, 11 ; Fair- 
(u'ld, 13; Fayette, 17; FrankUn, 20; Fulton, 7; Gallia, 10; Geauga, 7; 
Greene, 12; Guernsey, 11 ; Hamilton, 100; Hancock, 10; Hardin, 0; Har- 
rison, 8; Henry, 4; Highland, 12; Hocking, 7; Holmes, 8; Huron, 13; 
Jackson, 7; Jefferson, 11 ; Knox, 11 ; Madison, 0; Mahoning, 11 ; Marion, 
7; Meigs, 12; Mercer, 7; Miami, 13; Monroe, 11 ; Montgomery, 20; Mor- 
gan, 10; Morrow, 8; Muskingum, 19; Noble, 8; Ottawa, 3; Paulding, 
2; Perry, 8; Pickaway, 10; Pike, C; Portage, 10; Preble, 7; Putman, 6; 
Richland, 13; Rose, 15; Sandusky, 15; Scioto, 10; Seneca, 13; Shelby, 7; 



19 



Stack, 18; Suiiunit, 11 : Trumbull, i:] : Tusfiirawas, 14; l^nion, 8; Xiui 
Wert, 5; Vintou, <>: Warren, 12; Washington, if); Wavne, l'); Williams, 
s; Wood, S; Wyandott*', 7- 

A total of 1, ()()() companies. 

VI As a p^eneral rule, puolie arms will not be issued to the Militia 
of the Reservt", but a proximate estimate of the number of privat 




J5»^ ¥ »~i iimc 11 L tiiiii iiirM i|>ii iir ■ 

If the 1st lieserve Corps shall not be li lied and ollicered by Dm- 
first of June, next, additional companies will be cn'dited to the coun- 
ties tendering more tlian their quota. Due record will be made of all 
applications and propej' precedence will be granted in the order of 
such application. 



appl 

TI. B. CARRINGTON, 

Adjutant General. 
J3y order of the Commander in Chief. 

By direction of the War Department, the Adjutant General, who has 
been appointed nhe Colonel of the 18th Regular Infantry, and in charjie of 
the General Recruitn)<i: Depot for the new Re<rular Regiments at (\'un[» 
Thomas, near Columbus, Ohio, was permitted to still act as Adjiuant 
General of the State, until July 1 isr.l. 

In November, ISGl, he accompanied the 1st Batallion of the lOih U. S. 
Infantry, and the 1st and 2d Batallions of his own regiment, the 18th, to 
Lebanon, Kentucky. Leaving the Batallion of the 10th, with General Buej 
at Louisville, he was assigned by General Thomas at Lebanon, to common*! 
a Brigade, which, besides his two Batallions, included the 9th and :?"ith Ohio 
and the 2d Minnesota. 

But the War Department required his services at Camp Thomas, to 
complete the Regular enlistments, <lesignated for his special duty, and he 
resumed that command. 

A crisis was approaching in Kentucky, and he made an appe.al to (Hiio. 
as expressed in the following, which resulted in a fresh outburst of patriotic 
recruiting in both Ohio and Indiana, to me«'t emeri:»Mieies whieli :i bu'jer 
early call of President Lincoln might have aiUicipfUed 



20 

Prom the DAILY Capital City Fact, Columbus, O., Monday Evening, August 11, .862. 

We republish from the Cincinnati Commercial, a letter of Col. Carrington, full of 
practical suggestions, respecting our State Militia. By our telegraph despatches it will 
be seen that Massachusetts is about to assume an attitude similar to that here presented. 

Col. Carrington seems to maintain his interest In the Ohio Militia, for which he 
labored for four years as Adjutant General, with groat patience, and at a time wlien the 
General Assembly constantly ignored his annual recommendation for a respectable 
militia establishment. He has quietly borne criticism, pushed a'ong his own regiment, 
the ISth Regulars, and now has the largest in the United States. Awaiting the verdict of 
the future, he has steadily discharged his duties, unmindful of any personal abuse, and 
has given himself unsparingly to the cause of the country. 

Of thorough military training, a graduate of Yale, a ripe scholar, and a successful 
lawyer, with moral principle an«i nntaltering will, he cannot faii to make his mark in 
this war. Few are better qualified to command, and we believe that he wou d h:ive the 
unqualified confidence of the people, if the government should give him a command over 
the proposed new Western Department. 

Columbus, August 7, 1802. 
To THE People of Ohio : 

The following outline of a plan for the organization of the Ohio 
Militia, submitted to the State authorities, may be of service in giving 
shape to the proposed organization in Hamilton County. 

The "Militia of the lleserve " showed a paper strength of nearly a 
thousand companies, the design of its organization being as follows, 
viz: 

1st. To secure to the troops in the field the moral support' of a 
home force adequate for domestic and border protection, and available 
even in reinforcement of impaired columns in the field. 

2d. To bring home to the people the fact that we were engaged in 
a war that would tax their entire strength, and to interest all Districts 
of the State in practical preparation for its issues. 

3d. To render a response to any demand upon the militia, certain 
and immediate, without the necessity of additional and expensive 
camps, or drafting. 

The ditliculties in the way of its systematic development were 
numerous. Scarcity of arms and tactics, the absorption of the force 
in the new requisitions, almost as soon as new companies were formed, 
and a growing but unfortunate opinion that the force organized was 
sullicient to terminate the w^ar, and that our border could not be im- 
perilled, were among the elements that impaired its healthy and general 
adoption. 

These difTiculties no longer exist. It is true tliat in Cincinnati 
alone, over two thousand of this Corps were enrolled promptly, to take 
the lield; but, heretofore, they could neither be instructed nor armed. 
Now the State has ten thousand copies of Infantry Tactics, conforming 
literally to those used in the Regular service, and complete in the 
school of the soldier, the company, and the skirmish drill. Arms, 
surrendered for improved models, are to some considerable extent 
available. But, were it otherwise, as the thorough instruction in the 
facings and marchings is fundamental to giving solidity and momen- 
tum to any considerable force, this instruction could be commenced 
at once, and i)rivate arms be used for temporary purposes, in the 
manual. 



21 

1 will ;i(l(l one other consideration l)efore giving the plan proposed. 

Tiie choice now presented to the American peoi)le lies hetween a 
short, sharp, elTectual ;ind sweeping' contest, and a protracted, dis- 
hearteninjj: and wasting' one. Forces in the (i»*ld must leel that ami)le 
supi)ort is always siirt': that jtositions once acijuired are ni'ver to he 
abandoned; that a spiteful guerilla war upon the route of supplies is 
impossible; that traitors in the loyal States will be (h-alt with as 
sternly as those in aruis aii^ainst the government ; that discouragement 
of eidistments, resistance to taxation or drafting; that street cabals 
and secret associations in syUipathy with rel)ellion, nnist and will be 
broken up and punished; and that the press itself, when prostituted 
to disloyal uses, and all politicians who show or sustain its treason, 
will suiter instantaneous and condign i>unishment. There luust never 
be an hour when Ohio cannot protect herself aiHl send any nee«led 
support to her advanced armies. Then, will the days be numbered for 
all traitors, and the cost and sacrilice of war will be less in proportion 
as that hour of preparation is hastened. 

To this end. the people must realize that they, and not merely the 
armies in the held, are parties to this struggle. I would have, on 
Saturday, for at least half the day, in every school district of Ohio, a 
meeting of able-bodied citizens for instruction in the facing and march- 
ing ; distribute the tactics through the school libraries; let each 
military committee, or an ollicer detailed from the camp of that 
regimental district, superintend this instruction; close city places of 
business early, to give their emi)loyees the same privilege; turn every 
manufactory into an evening drill-room for its employees; let the 
merchant instruct his clerks, or have those of a block, or square, unite 
together. If invasion threatened either of our counties or cities, 
this sacrifice of time would be insignificant. Now is the very hour to 
put forth a similar energy. Let judges and infiuential citizens take 
active i)art. Let it go forth that 200,000 men are under weekly drill, 
and that Ohio, m iwtssfi, is preparing to crush this rebellion wherever 
it shows its head. 

L<'t it be understood that the voice of discouragement and bitter 
invective against the (Jovernment of the I'nited States will not go 
unrebuked If we have traitors at home, silence, fine, or export them 
to a sympathizing region. 

tIu' realities of a tremendous struggle are at hand. It is a war 
of the people, for the people, and to maintain the liberties of the 
peoi)le. 

If necessary, let Ohio and Indiana form one district, with center 
at Cincinnati, at which center shall be reported each new organizati(»n, 
the whole to be placed under some head, who, co-o}>eiatiiig with the 
(H)vernors of these States, shall be able instantly to supply a force 
wherever reipiired, and adetpiate to every emergency. 

T »e scheme is i)racti('al, because in invasion it would be necessary 
and natural. Let us anticipate all the i)Ossible issues of war with 
a s.igaeious and untiring foe, and leave to Providence the future when 
onr own part has been filled by way of i)reparation Then will con- 
lideiiee return and victory follow. 

Yours truly, 

IIKNUV n. CAHKINCTOX, 

Col. isth lufaiitrv. L S. A. 



22 

At the date of this appeal, Bragg liad demonstrated towards the 
Ohio River, while the right wing, under Kirby Smith, entered the Blue 
Grass Region of Kentucky. Within a week, upon the application of 
Governor Morton of Indiana, the War Department ordered Col. Car- 
rington to Indiana. Within twelve days, twenty regiments were 
mustered, armed, paid and en route for Kentucky. Five of these new 
regiments formed the larger part of the force that fought Kirby Smith 
at Richmond, Kentucky. Artillery and ammunition were sent from 
Indianapolis, and the defences opposite Cincinnati were held by Gen. 
Lew Wallace, until the rally of the Ohio Militia by thousands assured 
the safety of Cincinnati. The significance of the appeal had earlier 
verification than its author could have anticipated. 

The border contingencies, along the main Federal base at the west, 
had such developments that the same officer, after his promotion, 
November 29, 1862, as Brig. Gen., U. S. Vols., continued service in 
Indiana until one hundred thousand men had been sent to the field ; and 
his own Brigade, as organized by General Rosecrans, of the 15th, lOth, 
18th and 19th Regulars, went into the Battle of Stone River under 
Shepard, Lieutenant-Colonel of the 18th, because the Governor of 
Indiana protested against its Colonel joining his own legitimate com- 
mand. 

One year later, at Gettysburg, President Lincoln's tribute to the 
victory of that period was in the spirit of the Ohio Appeal, which at 
date of its publication, was honored with his approval. 

Indiana maintained as a Militia of the Reserve, known as the 
"Indiana Legion," a force of such efficiency that at one time arms 
were issued to 18,000. and, at three periods, this force not only assisted 
in protecting the three great hospitals at Madison, New Albany and 
Evansville, but upon the approach of Bragg to Louisville in 18(>2, the 
Morgan raid of 1863, the Seige of Frankfort in 1864, and in August of 
the same year, practically guaranteed the safety of the Ohio River 
border from serious attack. 

No other Western State was equally exposed to invasion from 
without, as well as from internal foes at home ; and the Indiana Legion 
was indeed a "Militia of Reserve," ever on the alert, and equally 
prompt, in the hour of^threatened danger. 

These exceptional conditions are fully treated in Vol. XXXIX, 
Part 1 1, Rebellion Records, Series I. 

L. of ()• 



23 



Familiar Hints to Indiana Soldiers Taking the Field. 

(Reprint of small Pamphiet given to Indiana Volunteers in 1S62, republished by 
The New York Ituiepevdcut, January, 1863. The U. S. Christian Commission 
published and distributed 100,000 copies ) 



I. YOUR ENEMIES — UNCLKANLINESS, PROFANITY, 
INTEMPERANCE, LEWDNESS. 

Keep the body elean. — After marching, if feet are sore, bathe in salt 
and water. Keep the hair close; air your blankets well. \'ou never 
take cold, no matter how wet, if in motion. When retiring wet, rub 
the body until reaction comes on. If possible, never retire in a state 
of perspiration, until the body is clean and dry. Be regular in the 
calls of nature ; constipation results in half the diseases of camp. 

Swear in^i; profanes the name of the (iod of battles. Revere Him, 
if you wish His blessing. Keep your own self-respect, and you cannot 
become a coward. The habit is unmanly, useless and degrading. 

Drinking — unless under medical advice, is your greatest curse. A 
ztv/Zman was made with nerves \o sustain him under labor ; he can 
depend upon them. Liquor excites, l?ut brings reaction and ruin. 
Coffee is a stimulus, and is nutritious. Quit strong drink. 

Lewdness makes beasts of men — never risk it. Be as pure as when 
at home. In a word, be as good citizens in the field as if at home, 
where mothers, wives and maidens look to you for support and favor. 

II. DIET AND COOKING. 

You will cook for yourselves. Your rations are super-abundant ; 
save them ; you can. In cooking, remember that half cooked food is 
ruinous. Better use uncooked pork or bacon, hard bread and coffee, 
than eat victuals half cooked that need perfect cookirg. Beans 
require thorough cooking ; soak them over night ; do n't smoke them ; 
you ruin them ; boil them over a slow fire for three hours at least — 
the same with hominy. Skim your soups often, it will pay you. Start 
• with clear, cold water, in clean kettles. If your kettles are foul your 
victuals will be foul also. Pepper and salt your soup half an hour 
before it comes off the fire. Onions in your soup are good. They are 
anti-scorbutic, and if you can get them, they are good against scurvy. 
If you fry baeon, get your fat hot before you put the bacon in the mess 
pan. The pores of the flesh close up at once, and prevent its becom- 
ing greasy and indigestible. Stale bread crumbled and spread over 
it will helf) it. ' '^\.2iX<. potatoes in cold water, with salt; if the water 
boils sharply, throw in cold water, and check it. When nearly done, 
pour off the water, and leave the kettle on until the steam evaporates. 
You can have mealy potatoes if they are good for anything. Toy>->' 
potatoes, put them first in cold water half an hour ; then into hot fat 
until brown, cutting them in thin slices; if you don t they only accu- 
mulate fat. 



24 

Boil rice gently, stirring constantly until it is soft. Turn it into a 
kettle or coarse towel, and pour over it fresh cold water; put it then 
in a clean kettle until dry ; serve hot or cold, as convenient, with 
molasses. Do n't burn your coffee, use a little fat or sugar, stirring 
constantly, over a slow fire. When browned, cover with a damp cloth 
to cool ; then grind it, passing the mill twice. Use clean kettles. 
When the water boils briskly throw in the coffee, having first wet it, 
and let it boil for two minutes ; then dash in a cup of cold water, and 
take it off the fire ; let it stand five minutes, pour it through a flannel 
strainer into another kettle, to be served. In measuring the water, 
by rations, allow five per cent. — leeway. Poor coffee is secured by 
excessive boiling. Good coffee can be made in a few minutes, as 
directed. , 

Soup can be made of most anything; save your beef bones for the 
purpose; skim faithfully. After the first boil, and the scum begins 
to rise, check your fire, and only let the water simmer. If you boil 
too hard, the pores of the flesh close, the essence of the meat is 
retained with all impurities, no scum rises, the meat is hard and tough, 
the soup is thin and watery. Otherwise, the juices are extracted, the 
meat is rich and tender, the soup rich and nutritious. The fat skimmed 
off keep, if you can, for other cooking. Cook two hours. Do n't put 
in too much salt and pepper; there is no remedy but thinning the 
soup, which spoils it. Better add more, if necessary. In Po7'k and 
Bean Soup, boil briskly for an hour, with the beans alone ; then take 
the kettles off for fifteen minutes, pour off the water, put in clean 
water, add your pork without rind, and boil an hour and a half or two 
hours continuously. 

Elbow grease and ashes applied to your kettles will not hurt what 
is to be cooked in them. Grease upon coffee, because of dirty kettles, 
is an abomination. Keep your kettles clean. 

III. ARMS AND EQUIPMENTS. 

These are as wife and family to the soldier. /<f/them. Keep your 
musket dry and bright. It may save your life. Do n't use sand or 
brick dust. A little " flour of emery " will last long, and be of service. 
Do n't use oil to excess ; a little, carefully applied, and well rubbed, 
is better; keep flannel for the purpose; see that the cone is clear, 
the lock action free and regular; your ball-screws and screw-driver 
'always on hand. After cleaning your piece, leave it perfectly dry. A 
little more time taken will pay the pains. After guard duty at night 
wipe off the dew, however weary; never sleep until this is done. 
Better lie down wet yourself, than leave your musket wet, if both 
cannot be attended to. See there is no water in bayonet scabbard. 

Use common blacking for your belts and leather equipments. 
They will then last. It will pay. When oil or lard is used, use it 
sparingly, and rub well. It is seldom needed. Don't use strong fat 
for the purpose. Keep your ammunition dry, your boxes full. 

Soldiers need neither hoivie knives nor revolvers. They are a secret 



2o 

weapon, too ready in case of brawls, and useless against a foe. Trust 
your mjsket and bayonet. If you have six shots, and are hard 
pressed, you will throw away your musket. You then cease to be a 
soldier. Remember, here, that " crossing bayonets " is never done by 
any considerable force. Few well authenticated cases are found in 
history. Push on steadily, coolly and persistently, and you will win. 

IV. OBEDIENCE TO ORDERS AND COOLNESS OF 
TEAfPER. 

These are indispensable to make the good or successful soldier. A 
thousand Colonels to a regiment is not provided for by regulations. 
Obey the one you are allowed. Better obey an officer of less experi- 
ence, who is cool and courageous, than try to dictate to those who are 
responsible for the regiment. 

Your safety is in your courage. The shock of battle is soon over. 
The cowards, who break and run, suffer most. If abused, or mal- 
treated, remember there is a just and proper remedy. Do n't try to 
execute the law yourselves. It do n't pay. Manfully ask your rights, 
but obey orders. But soldiers who do their duty seldom complain. 
Grumblers exist, always have, always will. But do n't you grumble. 
Bear toil and labor patiently. You will be rewarded. 

V. TRANSPORTATION AND RAILROAD CAR DEFENSE. 

B\ cars. — Load and unload by platoons, one to the car. A train 
can load in ten minutes. If in a hostile country, unite the knapsacks 
of comrades on a seat, hang them between the windows, covering the 
vital parts. The man by the window can have a ready tire, having 
butt of musket against interior leg of seat, leaning to window. Com- 
rade carries his piece erect, between his feet. He can load while 
other fires, exchanging pieces. The men by the windows are number 
one — their comrades in the seat are number two. If train stops, 
number twos pass out opposite side from attack — falling upon the 
ground, firing beneath the car until the whole command can form. If 
attack be upon both sides, the men should remain firm until the com- 
manding officer selects his place of formation, and then, steadily, by 
files, march to their position. Haste will only disorganize. ^Iean- 
while a fire may be maintained by a squad from each car to divert 
attack from the forming parties. Coolness in such circumstances is 
indispensable to safety ; and a prompt formation will defeat the 
enemy. 

Remember, that no train will be urged into the face of a large force. 
Such attacks are by guerrillas, or small detachments. Your self-pos- 
session will save you, and a brisk attack will ruin the assailants. 

On Steamboats. — Do n't spread over the boat at first. Twice as 
many men as you suppose may be quartered on a steamer. If formed 
in single rank, in any space, seven feet deep — face to the partition 
— unsling knapsacks — deposit them six inches apart — number your 



26 

men by companies, in whole numbers — unsling and spread blankets 
— four double — and you have room, and every man has his place. 

Remember, that loud talking is unbecoming a soldier. Never be 
so situated that the call of your officer cannot be at once heard and 
responded to. You are minute men in this war. A minute lost is 
lost forever. Save the minutes, and your toils and labors will soon be 
at an end. 

VI. THE SICK AND WOUNDED. 

Be brothers to those who suffer. Your turn may come next. Be 
unselfish, for you are comrades. Stint yourselves for those who lan- 
guish. Do n't fret because one breaks down. The best men may 
give out. Share your canteen of cold coffee or water with the weary. 
You will not repent it. Better that you suffer in part, than have your 
regiment strewed for miles by the wayside. Remember, a bandage, 
even a handkerchief, tightly bound above an artery, or both above 
and below, if there be much effusion of blood, may check the flow 
until relief comes. In the hot sun, a sponge, or green leaves in the 
hat, slightly wet, may prevent sun-stroke. If threatened with frosted 
feet or fingers, promptly apply cold water until reaction comes on. If 
very cold and drowsy, do n't give way to sleep until your extremities 
are warm again. If gruel cannot be procured for the sick on the 
march, crush corn, extemporize corn meal, and you can, with salt and 
crackers, make a very respectable substitute. Stale bread, toasted 
hard, soaked and seasoned, will give nutriment, refresh the sick, and 
take but a few minutes' stop. 

In all things cherish the unity of feeling which makes men one in 
sympathy, as they must be one in danger and adventure. 

VII. LAST, NOT LEAST. 
Remember, this is not a mercenary war — a war for pay, or plunder. 
Our true condition is that of peace. Armies are but an expansion of 
police authority, when civil process is inadequate to maintain order in 
the States. You fight to maintain m'// authority — that our country, 
whole and complete again, may again know peace. You are soldiers 
now — you are again to become citizens. Let all your acts, therefore, 
however earnest and aggressive upon the enemies of the State, prepare 
you to become better citizens, inasmuch as, by your toil and sacrifice, 
you have learned how precious our institutions are, and can realize 
the value of a well-ordered, peaceful Republic. 
Dare, do and endure, and you will be blessed. 
Your fellow soldier, 

HENRY B. CARRINGTON, 
Col. i8th Inf. U. S. A., Com'd'g at Indianapolis, 

And Mustering Officer for Indiana. 



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